Congress

ByShefali Luthra, Kaiser Health News | March 20, 2018

The nation’s opioid epidemic has been called today’s version of the 1980s AIDS crisis. In a speech Monday, President Donald Trump pushed for a tougher federal response, emphasizing a tough-on-crime approach for drug dealers and more funding for treatment. And Congress is upping the ante, via a series of hearings — including one scheduled to last Wednesday through Thursday — to study legislation that might tackle the unyielding scourge, which has cost an estimated $1 trillion in premature deaths, health care costs and lost wages since 2001. Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician by training and the health commissioner for hard-hit Baltimore, said Capitol Hill has to help communities at risk of becoming overwhelmed. “We haven’t seen the peak of the epidemic.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill with a provision that could have a big impact on three national forests in southern New Mexico. Lawmakers voted 232 to 188 to pass the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017 Wednesday. The final bill included an amendment sponsored by New Mexico Rep. Steve Pearce that will exempt certain forest thinning, logging, watershed improvement and habitat restoration projects from reviews required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act. Speaking on the House floor, Pearce said thinning and logging activities in New Mexico and across the western United States have been “drastically reduced,” contributing to the size and severity of wildfires. “The best way to restore our forests while preserving their ecosystems is the creation of restoration projects that will return them a healthy density,” Pearce said.

A prominent national medical group that opposes a Republican health care reform proposal now has a leading voice from New Mexico. The American Medical Association elected Albuquerque oncologist Barbara L. McAneny, M.D, Tuesday as the organization’s new president-elect. In a written statement released by the AMA, McAneny said she plans to use her position to advocate for both physicians and patients. “The AMA will play a pivotal role in the changing health care environment as our nation confronts pressing health care issues,” McAneny wrote. “With vision and perseverance, I look forward to creating a brighter future for patients and the medical profession.”

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall criticized President Donald Trump Tuesday after the Washington Post revealed that the president disclosed classified information to Russian officials during a meeting in the Oval Office last week. On the Senate floor, Udall said the latest news calls for a “swift” and independent investigation. “The White House and President Trump face another crisis,” Udall said. Udall went on to criticize Trump’s firing of former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and FBI Director James Comey. “The only rational explanation is that he has something to hide,” Udall said.

Martin Heinrich was one of 13 Democratic U.S. senators who voted against legislation earlier this week that would have allowed Americans to buy prescription drugs from other countries. The measure, a health care reform idea often supported by progressives, came as an amendment to legislation aimed at changing Senate rules to allow majority votes on budget bills. The procedural changes, which the Senate narrowly approved in the early hours of Thursday, are the first step in Republican plans to repeal as much of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, as they can. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent senator who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Party presidential nomination last year, sponsored the amendment with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota. Senators rejected the amendment on a 52-48 margin, with 12 Republicans casting their votes in favor.

Both U.S. senators from New Mexico voted this week against the first steps the Senate took to repeal the federal Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. The Senate vote, held Thursday during early morning hours, changed procedural rules to allow majority votes on so-called reconciliation bills. Such reconciliation bills are limited to actions on the federal budget and are filibuster-proof, meaning they just need 51 votes from senators to pass instead of the usual 60 votes. Republicans plan to use this reconciliation process to repeal as much of the ACA as they can. Sens.

U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham will be a Senior Whip in the Democratic caucus when the new Congress convenes next year. Lujan Grisham received the position after being named by Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer on Thursday. This is the second high-profile position for Lujan Grisham in the upcoming Congress. Lujan Grisham was recently elected chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which is made up of Hispanic members of the chamber, currently only Democrats. Hoyer referenced that position Thursday in a statement.

Less than a week after Donald Trump won the election for president of the United States, the mayor of New Mexico’s capital city is not backing down from so-called “sanctuary” status. This comes despite threats to cut federal money to such cities made by the president-elect during the campaign. “The threat is intended to divide us against each other,” Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales wrote in a statement on Twitter Monday afternoon. “It is one of the first, but it won’t be the last we see out of this administration, which based on its own words intends to persecute and attack not only immigrants but women, Muslims, people of color, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and more.”

Though there is no formal legal definition, the politically charged term “sanctuary city” typically refers to cities that limit cooperation with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on immigration policies. Santa Fe, for example, bars the use of public resources to check for someone’s immigration status.

The House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill that would make it easier for states to deny funding to Planned Parenthood through federal Medicaid dollars. Congressman Steve Pearce of New Mexico was among the more than 200 members of the House who voted in favor of the Women’s Public Health and Safety Act earlier this week. The bill would allow individual states to decide whether organizations like Planned Parenthood can receive Medicaid funding. New Mexico’s other two members of the House, both Democrats, voted against the legislation. The bill has very little chance of clearing the Senate and, even then, would face a veto from President Barack Obama.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding, the latest in a line of efforts to aimed at the women’s healthcare provider over abortion. The vote was 241-187 on near party lines. Three Republicans voted against the measure while two Democrats voted for the measure. In New Mexico, the members of Congress were split on partisan lines. Rep. Steve Pearce, the lone Republican in the New Mexico delegation to Washington, voted for the legislation.

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